[Labor / WWII / Homefront]. Randall, Stan - Artist.

Collection of 28 Work Safety and Other Work-Related Posters

$2,500.00

New York: Elliott Service Co., Inc., (n. d., circa 1940). 22 x 17 inches. 28 broadsides, including two duplicates. White stock printed in two additional colors. Condition varies, with some posters showing only minor wear but the majority with marginal chips, loss, and/or tears; old tape repair to verso some; significant dampstaining to three posters. Fair to Very Good.

A collection of posters most likely issued during WWII, encouraging workers to use safety precautions, be efficient, work together, be responsible during off hours, and even smile at coworkers. All of the posters were illustrated by Stan Randall, an artist who studied under Norman Rockwell and worked on early gag and humor comics like "Alfy Elephant" and "Slim Pickins". Randall also did the newspaper feature "Right Around Home" for two years in the 1950s, was an assistant on "Ripley's Believe it or Not", and did numerous commercial comic strips and promotional art.

Randall's comic strip background shines clear in a series of eight posters (plus one of the duplicates) featuring two workers named Spec and Lumpy, who mean well but get into trouble with the boss through carelessness, forgetfulness, etc. Although none of these posters require knowledge of the others, all but one are numbered in the lower righthand corner with a number from 2 to 8; it's possible that the first one was simply left unnumbered.

Elliott Service Co. was a subscription photographic and pictorial news service agency that provided images for display and advertising purposes throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Although we find no evidence of their wartime efforts, creating work safety posters was certainly in their wheelhouse.

Not located in OCLC or any other online resource.